For more and more students, Master’s degrees are seen as the logical next step after completing a Bachelor’s. They are short and many see them as a way of taking time to figure out a career path before diving into the job market. As such, their popularity has skyrocketed, the number of students enrolled in postgraduate degrees in Britain has risen roughly 60% over the last 15 years. Yet in November of last year, The Economist published an article titled “Is your master’s degree useless?.” Shockingly, new analysis and data suggested that for many degrees this was true.
Financially, many postgraduate degrees don’t make sense. The article reveals that tuition fees have risen 70% in the decade between 2011 and 2021 while the extra earnings that they bring in have stagnated. Tuition fee data from the University of Edinburgh reveals that fees have risen by roughly 40% (in nominal terms) for students from the United Kingdom and Scotland and 50% for international students since the 2017 to 2018 academic year. The average net return for master’s degrees at the University of Edinburgh was -1.87% for women and -7.15% for men by the age of 35. Although these figures mask large variations between different subjects, with law and engineering remaining useful, many subjects have large negative net returns. So why are people still taking them?
Master’s degrees have become increasingly demanded by employers as certain fields advance, especially in STEM subjects. An interview with a postgraduate student pursuing a degree in Performance Psychology at the University of Edinburgh confirmed that this was their primary motivation. They stressed that the requirements and credibility to practice as a psychologist were dependent on acquiring at least a Master’s in this field, often PhD’s are demanded too. Additionally, many students with newly minted undergraduate degrees feel pressure to pursue a Master’s as they are surrounded by peers doing the same. These “panic Masters”, as they are often called, also provide an easy escape for students struggling for employment and direction following their undergraduate degree.
Reputable but expensive universities such as the University of Edinburgh contribute the most to the problem. The Economist found no strong correlation between the reputation/ranking of universities and earnings. “Brand-name schools have realised that they can trade on their reputation to offer programmes that look very prestigious on paper, but which don’t have outcomes that justify the hype” said an expert who spoke with The Economist. The student interviewed for this article identified the University of Edinburgh’s reputation as the most significant reason for choosing this university, despite the steep cost. Expensive universities thus saddle students with more debt, but for no added benefit. This is reflected in the quality of the education; the postgraduate student believed “shortcuts” had worsened the quality of the programme and that it lacked opportunities to apply knowledge in a real world environment and gain experience. Edinburgh students expect a Master’s degree that will teach them well and set them up for success, alas neither seem to be happening. When asked whether they considered their degree worth the money, the postgraduate student answered: “No, plain and simple…We’re paying far too much for what we actually receive.”
Importantly however, earnings alone do not dictate whether students choose to get a Master’s degree- passion for a subject also matters. Because committing to a Master’s degree can determine the field you work in later, the decision is as much a personal choice as it is a financial one. This brings to light another reason why students continue to get master’s degrees with negative net returns. Knowing that it would be financially unwise does little to stop them pursuing their dream careers.
This still presents a problem: students are essentially punished with hard to pay off debt for opting to study what they are interested in. Students looking to do a Master’s may therefore want to consider price over prestige when deciding on where to go. The postgraduate student stressed they still considered their master’s degree a good investment, but, in hindsight, they would have chosen a different university.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.